Upgrade question

[vertigo791]

I want to upgrade my graphics card but Iam not sure if the one I want to upgrade to (XFX FX-797A-TNBC Radeon HD 7970 Black Edition 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16) will work with my current system, or is worth the money. I play a lot of games on my computer MW3, BF3, Crysis 2, Skyrim and lots more. So I have a few questions that I hope the good people here can answer, any and all Comments welcome.

1. I know that my current mobo is PCI Express 2.0 x16 will that be an issue with the new card I want considering which is PCI Express 3.0? what would be the downside of having a 2.0 mobo and 3.0 graphics card

2.I was also wondering if anyone had any other suggestions for graphics cards to fit my build.

3. I built my current system in August 2009. I am also wondering if my current build is still a good system for gaming or should I consider building a complete new one? Or will a new card kickass card keep me upto date?

4. Would there be considerable differences in upgrading to the XFX Radeon HD 7970 or other suggested cards?

My specs:
Mobo- ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 DDR3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU- AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W
GFX- SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
Ram- 2x Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (8GB total)
PSU- Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 1000W Continuous Power ATX12V
HDD- Western Digital 640GB

 

[Akhilcool]

The differences between 2.0 and 3.0 is very minimal. You won't notice it. And since 3.0 is backward compatible with 2.0, you won't have any compatibility issues. The 7970 is also a very good card so I would buy it if I were you since it should be good for the future. Now the reason why you have a 1000W PSU confuses me since the rest of your current system will never even need 700W. :S Anyways, your CPU isn't that great and may bottleneck your GPU, especially at stock clocks. Therefore, I would try getting your CPU overclocked to 4.0GHz which should be easy if you use the AMD CPU Overdrive tool which you can download, or it should come with your ATI Catalyst if you have a recent version. I honestly still think it might be a slight bottleneck and would consider upgrading it to a newer CPU. It will cost you since you also have to upgrade the motherboard but if you want a 7970, the CPU is a major bottleneck.

Essentially, you need to make two changes if you plan to buy the 7970; the motherboard and the CPU.

Now for the specific model of 7970 you have chosen is quite debatable. I think the Gigabyte triple fan version is better in terms of overclock-ability since it has a better cooler compared to the reference one of the one you have chosen.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125413

However it is around $15 more. It is up to you whether you want to spend that extra bit. Even the one you have chosen is great.

 

[Outlander_04]

In games like BF3 the phenom wont be a huge bottleneck because the game is so graphically demanding , but it will be in many other games .

Instead of the 7970 consider a 7870 . Performance will be much better than the 4870

 

[Akhilcool]

In games like BF3 the phenom wont be a huge bottleneck because the game is so graphically demanding , but it will be in many other games .

Instead of the 7970 consider a 7870 . Performance will be much better than the 4870

I guess your right about picking the 7870 but in terms of it being future-proof, the 7970 will promise him later on. However if the OP isn't a graphic junky that is obsessed with benchmarking, the 7870 can be a good choice. The reason why I didn't recommend it was that I didn't see it yet. Anyways, the CPU definitely still needs to go. Even with the 7870 it is still a bottleneck. Trust me I had the same CPU and it was even OC'ed to 4GHz and I had issues with some games that were heavy on the CPU.

If you don't want to replace your motherboard this is a best CPU you can get with socket AM3:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103923

Otherwise, you will have to pull more out of your wallet.

Here is a good 7870:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127662

 

[Outlander_04]

Higher clocked phenoms are identical parts to the 955 , but clocked a little higher so an update is not worthwhile .
The 955 should overclock 4 GHz + with a decent cooler which is going to help .

 

[Akhilcool]

I made it to 4.0GHz on a stock cooler with 955 and got temps maxing at like 50-55*C so OP should see how far he can go with the stock cooler first.

 

[Guest]

I want to upgrade my graphics card but Iam not sure if the one I want to upgrade to (XFX FX-797A-TNBC Radeon HD 7970 Black Edition 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16) will work with my current system, or is worth the money. I play a lot of games on my computer MW3, BF3, Crysis 2, Skyrim and lots more. So I have a few questions that I hope the good people here can answer, any and all Comments welcome.

1. I know that my current mobo is PCI Express 2.0 x16 will that be an issue with the new card I want considering which is PCI Express 3.0? what would be the downside of having a 2.0 mobo and 3.0 graphics card

2.I was also wondering if anyone had any other suggestions for graphics cards to fit my build.

3. I built my current system in August 2009. I am also wondering if my current build is still a good system for gaming or should I consider building a complete new one? Or will a new card kickass card keep me upto date?

4. Would there be considerable differences in upgrading to the XFX Radeon HD 7970 or other suggested cards?

My specs:
Mobo- ASUS M4A79T Deluxe AM3 DDR3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU- AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W
GFX- SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16
Ram- 2x Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (8GB total)
PSU- Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 1000W Continuous Power ATX12V
HDD- Western Digital 640GB

maybe hang out for a week, nvidia is SUPPOSE to be releasing the kepler line up.
Leak: NVIDIA GTX 680 Release Date Set For March 22nd
http://www.legitreviews.com/news/12601/

if that is true, and the "leaked slides" showing it performance over the 7970 is ANYWHERE near true prices will be adjust to benefit the consumer . . .

and a PCI 3.0 will be fine for your system

 

[Akhilcool]

maybe hang out for a week, nvidia is SUPPOSE to be releasing the kepler line up.
Leak: NVIDIA GTX 680 Release Date Set For March 22nd
http://www.legitreviews.com/news/12601/

if that is true, and the "leaked slides" showing it performance over the 7970 is ANYWHERE near true prices will be adjust to benefit the consumer . . .

and a PCI 3.0 will be fine for your system

Well it has been determined that a 7970 and 680 would be an overkill for OP's hardware and would require him to upgrade his motherboard and CPU as well. Therefore, the 7870 would be a smarter choice. But waiting for the Kepler cards to come out may mean that ATI will decrease the price of their existing cards so waiting might make it cheaper to buy a 7870 too.

 

[vertigo791]

I am so sorry for not responding. After I posted I was having internet issues (ISP fault) and to be honest I just plain forgot about this thread. Thank you everyone for all of your advice it is greatly appreaciated. I have decided that I would go with the 7870 to breathe a little more life into an aging computer and do a new build sometime next year.

@Akhilcool - the reason for the 1000w PSU, I was planning on running 2 video cards but obviously that didnt happen and also I got the PSU for $20